''Agony'' (; U.S. theatrical/DVD title ''Rasputin'') is a 1981 Soviet

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

Elem Klimov Elem Germanovich Klimov (; 9 July 1933 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker. He studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography, Gerasimov Institute of Cinematograph, and was married to film director Larisa Shepitko ...

, made c.1973-75 and released in Western and Central Europe in 1982 (United States and Soviet Union 1985), after protracted resistance from Soviet authorities. The film is notable for its rich, sometimes

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style, its sumptuous recreation of episodes from the final year of

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

and the psychological portraits of

Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin ( – ) was a Russian Mysticism, mystic and faith healer. He is best known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II of Russia, Nicholas II, the last Emperor of all the Russias, Emperor of Russia, th ...

and the

Imperial family A royal family is the immediate family of monarch, monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or emperor, empress, and the term papal family describes the family of ...

Plot

The storyline follows the final months of 1916 up to the murder of Rasputin; some events have been telescoped into this time though they actually happened earlier, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Rasputin's effect on people around him is shown as almost hypnotic, and the film avoids taking a moral stance towards him—breaking not only with Soviet history but also with how he was regarded by people near the court at the time, some of whom regarded him as a debilitating figure who disgraced the monarchy and hampered the war effort, leading to the mounting defeats of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

Cast

* Aleksei Petrenko as

* Anatoli Romashin as emperor

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

* Velta Līne as empress Alexandra Feodorovna *

Alisa Freindlich Alisa Brunovna Freindlich (born 8 December 1934) is a Russian actress. Since 1983, Freindlich has been a leading actress of the Bolshoi Drama Theater in Saint Petersburg, Russia. She was awarded the title of the People's Artist of the USSR in ...

Anna Vyrubova Anna Alexandrovna Vyrubova (''née'' Taneyeva; ; 16 July 1884 – 20 July 1964) was a lady-in-waiting in the late Russian Empire, the best friend and confidante of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna. Early life Anna Alexandrovna Taneeva was born in ...

* Aleksandr Romantsov as

Felix Yusupov Knyaz Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston (; – 27 September 1967) was a Russian aristocrat from the House of Yusupov who is best known for participating in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin and for marrying Princess Irina ...

* Yuri Katin-Yartsev as Vladimir Purishkevich * Leonid Bronevoy as Ivan Manasevich-Manuilov * Pavel Pankov as Manus * Mickhail Danilov as Mikhail M. Andronikov *

Mikhail Svetin Mikhail Semyonovich Svetin (; born Michail Solomonovitch Goltsman; 11 December 1929 – 30 August 2015) was a Soviet, Russian actor. He appeared in more than fifty films. Svetin's room 2.JPG, Makeup room at the Comedy Theatre The Haro ...

as Terekhov * Boris Romanov as Balashov * Lyudmila Polyakova as Praskovya Fyodorovna, Rasputin's wife * Afanasi Trishkin as Maklakov

Release

The film went unshown until 1981, when it was screened at the

Moscow Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to 1959, it was hel ...

and attracted very favourable reviews. Released in Western Europe, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland in 1982, it was hailed as one of the most original Soviet films of the 1970s. It was screened later in 1985, at the dawn of the

Glasnost ''Glasnost'' ( ; , ) is a concept relating to openness and transparency. It has several general and specific meanings, including a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information and the inadmissi ...

era. The versions released in the 1980s, and later on DVD, differ somewhat in length and the final voice-over newsreel shots of the 1917 revolution may have been added in to appease authorities. The original mid-1970s cut does not seem to have survived, and it is unclear how much was rewritten or possibly reshot after 1975.

Alternate versions

At least four versions of the film exist, from 73 minutes, 104 minutes, 142 minutes (the North American DVD release from

Kino International The Kino International is a film theater in Berlin, built from 1961 to 1963. It is located on Karl-Marx-Allee in former East Berlin. It hosted premieres of the DEFA film studios until the Berlin Wall#The Fall, fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. T ...

) and 151 minutes (the 1982 international release).

References

External links

* * Watc
''Agony''
online at official

Mosfilm Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...

site (with English subtitles) {{DEFAULTSORT:Agony (Film) Soviet biographical drama films Russian biographical drama films 1980s biographical drama films 1975 films 1981 films Films directed by Elem Klimov Films scored by Alfred Schnittke 1980s Soviet films 1980s Russian-language films Mosfilm films Films set in the 19th century 1980s historical drama films Soviet historical drama films Russian historical drama films Films about Grigori Rasputin 1981 drama films Russian-language biographical drama films Russian-language historical drama films